FN TPS loading problem: anyone else experience this?

[Digital_Boy]

I was attempting to load some 00 buck in my TPS, and had to exert an extraordinary amount of pressure to get the rim of the brass base to get past the mouth of the magazine tube. The follower inside the tube moves freely, and once you get the round in the tube, it will cycle into the action just fine. It just takes far too much pressure to get the round in the mag tube initially.

By way of comparison, my Mossberg 590A1 loads effortlessly, so it's not like I'm being a sissy. I've got scrapes on the top of my thumb from trying to get a round in the tube.

Is this a known issue with these shotguns? I like it overall, and hope there's a simple fix.

[grammaton76]

What happens if you move the slide back just a little before trying to load the tube?

I'm not familiar with the TPS design, but maybe the mag assembly is unscrewed a little?

[Digital_Boy]

No change. With the slide at full battery or moving it forward a bit until the ears just behind the mag tube begin to jut out from the side of the receiver.

The TPS is a slightly modified Winchester 1300 pump action.

I took the mag tube cap off and removed the barrel, and checked the tube, and it's solid, no play at all.

[Digital_Boy]

Apparently, in the words of the immortal Ren Hoek, I am an eeeeeeeeeeedeeot. I was assuming that the action needed to be fully back (i.e. the first half of the pump stroke, with the fore end adjacent to the receiver), figuring that would be the safest way to load. Yeah, not so much.